New Frequencies

Due to band conditions on 75 meters, Woodrats are now using 40 meters in the mornings and usually begin to show up as early as 9:00 AM on 7.180.

Also: Those Woodrats with a penchant for CW can be found throughout the day by tuning to 7.043.   Local propagation is usually good from about noon til 4 PM, or there-about.  (Until the band begins to stretch out.)

40 meters
SSB  7.180
CW    7.043

Wood Rat Fishing Contest

When in QSO with casual contacts, steer the conversation to fishing and subtly get the fellow to tell you what his biggest fish was, either in inches or pounds.  Record the information and include with your normal QSO logging information so you can track the fish catches through the year.  At the end of the year, you enter five of the largest fish recorded in two categories, Pounds and Inches.



Note: Big fish reported by fellow Woodrats are not eligible because their stories are usually doubtful and laden with prevarication.

To summerize;
1.  Track fish size either in inches or pounds.   Only one from each QSO.
2.  At the end of the year enter the total weight of the five largest and enter the total length of the five longest.

So, there are two categories and you can submit to either or both.

Suggestions and feedback are welcome.

Cooties Again

This cootie was made by Dennis, N5DRB, my nephew.  You've seen some of his work before.   This is a first for me, the magnetic tensioning makes adjustment very precise and stable.  I'm having a blast sideswiping!!!

its alive!!! brent that is.

hey rats.just thought ide touch base and let you know we are alive and well. was busy working...ouch..OT alot.

back on the reg routine now. just talked to ae7li on 985 tonight. didnt know where on 160 you guys were, nut now i do.

hope averyone is having a wonderful early winter staying inside and talking on the radio while us young guys have to work!! ha.
will be on the airwaves again soon.

take care.

ve7ren brent

Winter Photos

It's been a while since I've been to town and had access the the internet. So here's a few photos of what we've been up to recently.

The first is a shot of my 1976 Power Wagon with the BOSS snow plow. I'd just bought this truck in January of 1977 a few months before meeting Lori. It still works great even with balding tires.

This next photo is of my home brew firewood processing gizmo we have on the back porch.  We get these dry 5 foot long logs and then we zap them into 16 inch hunks.  Bada Bing, Bada Boom!

This next one is a photo of a Swan on Little Beaver Lake that seems to be staying over for the winter.  We think it may have been injured.  But it always seems to be content and has several duck buddies that it hangs with.  Plus there's always a spot of open water on this lake where it comes out of the spring.

Here's a view of our house from the driveway below.  I took this photo while plowing on a nice day.

Have a great December if I don't get back to the blog before next year.

New Cootie

Not really new, just the second one modified a bit.  (Added a steel base and painted an ugly black.)

Woodrat Woodtrip

This is a view of the road to Chesaw from our place. The needles of the Tamarac trees have all turned gold and fallen to the ground covering the roadsides.

Here I am splitting wood for the winter. WOO HOO!